A supernova designated 2021yfj in the Milky Way revealed unusually exposed internal layers during its explosion. The star had lost its outer hydrogen and helium and, unusually, also shed dense inner layers of silicon and sulfur. Observations confirmed the layered structure expected for massive stars, with lighter elements outside and heavier elements near the core. The stripping provides rare direct evidence of late-stage stellar structure and evolution. The mechanism that removed so many layers remains uncertain, with possibilities including violent mass ejection before collapse or removal by a binary companion. Such events may be rare and difficult to observe again.
Scientists for the first time have spotted the insides of a dying star as it exploded, offering a rare peek into stellar evolution. Stars can live for millions to trillions of years until they run out of fuel. The most massive ones go out with a bang in an explosion called a supernova. Using telescopes that peer deep into space, researchers have observed many such explosions. The cosmic outbursts tend to jumble up a dying star's layers, making it hard for scientists to observe the inner structure.
But that wasn't the case for the new discovery, a supernova called 2021yfj located in our Milky Way galaxy. The collapsing star's outermost layers of hydrogen and helium had peeled away long ago, which wasn't surprising. But the star's dense, innermost layers of silicon and sulfur had also shed during the explosion. We have never observed a star that was stripped to this amount, said Northwestern University's Steve Schulze, who was part of the discovery team that published the research Wednesday in the journal Nature.
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